1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is drawn to subscriber telephone apparatus, and more particularly to a caller identification device which displays the caller's telephone number and name, or similar identification, and then distributes the displayed information to remote areas by means of a wireless medium.
2. Background Art
Many telephone companies throughout the world are now offering calling number display features (CND) as part of optional service to regular telephone subscribers. In the usual arrangement, and particularly in the United States, many operating companies providing this service provide a device to the customer, or telephone subscriber, which provides identification of the calling party via a visual display connected to the telephone line. This feature allows the user to screen incoming calls and answer only when desired. With this arrangement, the telephone system provides from the telephone central office a set of signals during the ring cycle which are decoded at the customer's premises and displayed on the calling number display.
As outlined above, the arrangement described is quite satisfactory for a single subscriber, but is not applicable to telephone systems wherein a number of stations are connectable to the same telephone line. There are a number of techniques provided to overcome this particular drawback, and accordingly a search of the background art directed to the subject matter of the present invention conducted in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disclosed the following U.S. Letters Patent:
______________________________________ 4,942,598 5,228,073 5,063,588 5,274,699 5,070,521 5,327,486 5,155,759 5,375,161 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,942,598 and 5,375,161 both deal with paging systems employing wireless communication medium as a means for accessing parties to be paged. U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,598 also includes a caller number identification system, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,161 includes a memory for storing electronic signals representative of telephone network addresses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,588 provides the identity of a calling subscriber to the called subscriber by requiring the calling subscriber to identify himself to a central station requesting access to communication resources. The central station then forwards the identity of the calling subscriber to the called subscriber enabling the called subscriber to decide whether to answer the call or not. Radio frequency communication links are utilized once a connection is established between the two subscriber units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,521 pertains to wireless communication and the method for identifying the origin of calls through the communication unit. Calls from the telephone network typically provide a special prefix or suffix to alert the subscriber the call was made from the telephone network as a means to alert the operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,759 deals with simultaneous calling request signals for a plurality of portable telephones. When simultaneous requests are sent to portable telephones, any telephone that is busy will not receive the request. The requester will thus be aware that the busy telephone has not received the request . Accordingly, the response of any receiving portable telephone will be returned to the requester or calling party, followed by means of a display signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,073 discloses a caller identification display system with remote user units. It is indicated that the communication between the master and the remote may be by conventional interface electronics located in the reception unit with the remote units interconnected by cables, or by means of radio frequency or laser transmitter and receiver system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,699 teaches a device that allows a signalling word to be transmitted from the transceiver section to the central controller indicating that it wishes to transmit. After this a central station accesses a data base to check for the identification transmitted by the requesting unit. The controller then selects the appropriate displayable source indicator and provides such display to the recipient unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,486 deals with an automated reception arrangement which utilizes a computer in a wireless system. In the arrangement taught, the name of the calling person is presented after which a reception judgment is made as to whether or not the call is important enough to notify the person being called by means of a wireless link.
None of the above units are believed to teach or claim a system like that disclosed herein.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a new and improved caller identification system which discloses a method to receive, display, process, and distribute caller information to remote areas.